The Electronic era in cycling

[JA-Q001]

Seems like the electronic era in cycling is now fully taking off.

With Shimano and SRAM offering their top 3 Road groups only in electronic versions and SRAM pushing for the same in MTB.

Will you be embracing it or is this just another way to make cheap spares more expensive? 

I see even China has caught up and will be entering the "cheap" side of the market. (Shimano lagging far in the MTB market)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004028934843.html?spm=a2g0o.home.15002.508.6a192145aTuNOJ&gps-id=pcJustForYou&scm=1007.13562.275843.0&scm_id=1007.13562.275843.0&scm-url=1007.13562.275843.0&pvid=f157c384-3866-48cf-9769-8f2be3a628f2&_t=gps-id:pcJustForYou,scm-url:1007.13562.275843.0,pvid:f157c384-3866-48cf-9769-8f2be3a628f2,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238115%232000&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000027795471330"%2C"sceneId"%3A"3562"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!ZAR!!7188.64!!!!!%40210312f516565700779717056e2017!12000027795471330!rec

Edited June 30, 2022 by JA-Q001

[madmarc]

On MTB yes - I recently went AXS and loving it

On road No - I'll stick to my mech Campy - Nothing better than spending time dialing it in and feel it work like a swiss watch forever. 

[MudLark]

Nah. Not for me. If what I want is no longer available in Shimano (or SRAM), I'd rather go for other less prominent brands that still offer cable, 

[The Ouzo]

I’m a gadget geek, love gadgets, and the idea of electric gear shifts excite me. But, as with most rechargeable gadgets, I’m not looking forward to a few years down the line when you need new batteries. They will be expensive and or impossible to find because new tech has superceded the old battery tech and manufacturers have stopped making batteries for them. 

[Jewbacca]

I am not at all enticed by battery operated bicycles or bicycle parts. 

I see their appeal, I get the appeal, but the luddite in me isn't on the edge of my seat.

I got super excited about some bicycle trends, gravel/touring bikes, disc brakes on everything, dropper posts..... But this doesn't tickle my excitement cockles.

I do not believe I am right, I do not believe that electronic is in any way inferior, it is just not attractive to me. 

I also don't see my opinion being particularly important as I'm not rich, I'm not racing bikes and I don't take cycling 'seriously' despite doing it often. 

I'm also sure that if I were given a bike with an electronic groupset on I would love it. 

[117]

Wait hang on - aliexpress can deliver a gx axs system locally for around three and a half thousand ronts less than the local suppliers on special? (I can hear the 'ya bru, but the warranty cover blah blah' excuse for higher local price already) 

Sorry, I didnt mean to thread drift 

Yes, I'm all for the electronic future and I think the more it grows the cheaper it will become as well as more refined for specific users/style of riding

 

 

[TyronLab]

I've ridden a buddy's Canyon Grail, which has Red eTap gears, and it is awesome. Specifically the fact that its a push button, there's no lever travel involved. The actual movement of the derailleur isn't much faster, its the fact that its a button press that makes it feel instantaneous.

That being said, the smidge of an improvement felt over a well-tuned mechanical setup doesn't in any way, shape or form equal the gigantic price difference. Being on the adventure side of riding and not the racing side also means that its just more things to faff with that, to me, detract from the enjoyment of the ride. The more you have to worry about the less you're just enjoying the experience of riding a bike (same reason I ride a rigid mtb).

Also, drop your bike and you're on the hook for a R10k derailleur / shifter? Hard pass.

[JA-Q001]

14 minutes ago, 117 said:

Wait hang on - aliexpress can deliver a gx axs system locally for around three and a half thousand ronts less than the local suppliers on special? (I can hear the 'ya bru, but the warranty cover blah blah' excuse for higher local price already) 

Sorry, I didnt mean to thread drift 

Yes, I'm all for the electronic future and I think the more it grows the cheaper it will become as well as more refined for specific users/style of riding

 

 

Have a look, its not SRAM, its their version of GX AXS.

[Steady Spin]

I'll be the guy to forget to charge the damn battery or leave it on the charger and show up for a ride with a single speed. 

Long live cables for me. R50 a year to keep things shifting great.

[Jbr]

Just like discs won’t make you faster, electronic shifting won’t win you races and shouldn’t be a deciding factor. When I buy a bike I look at how aero and light it is and also the opinion of people who rode them (how it feels when cornering fast for example), so mostly frame and wheels.

I’m looking at buying a bike in France for when I’m over here on holidays, renting is so expensive. Will most likely be a mechanical/rim brake for cost/going over the mountains as opposed to my Cape Town bike that is aero/not so light but not so heavy either and has Di2 ultegra

[dave303e]

I was not keen on the idea, but my new bike came with AXS. I can tell you now I will never buy another cable shifting bike ever. When the Mrs bike next needs to be serviced it is also getting the AXS upgrade.

It just works, shifts are exact. You don't faff as much with shifts and setting up cable tension etc. 

The AXS also has the overload clutch which allows the derailleur to move out the way, so there is no longer the need to carry a spare drop out/hanger.

My next dream(and potential ultra tinker project) power meter + AXS + Cadence Meter + gps input + AI algorithm = Auto shifting bicycle

Also would love to see more like Dangerholm's internal handlebar shifter.

 

[lechatnoir]

I put AXS on my mtb and am loving it. The reason being i lopped the end of my right thumb off and mechanical shifting is not happening, so in order to actually ride my bike, I had to drop some loot. The money was worth it, the amputation, not-so-much

[Paul Ruinaard]

You can see with the Shimano 105 group the new options don't have any sort of cable offerings at all i.e. you cant buy mechanical groups. It's just what we will need to get used to. Tech moves on and its always better, and more expensive.

FWIW I am using 11 speed DI 2 on both road and MTB and the shifting is super slick and simple and it shifts right every time. I only once in three years have had a brain fart and forgotten to charge a battery. Otherwise i couldn't think of not having it. It just makes everything simpler and easier. On the MTB the programmed shifting on the front ring negates the need for multiple shifters, so it even thinks for me. I have the same on the road bike now as well, and asa a result i never manually shift the front ring.

Integration with Garmin is also cool and it warns me on the display when there is a chainring shift coming.

You try and buy a car today with manual transmission that is better and easier to drive than the new generation car gearboxes. Same argument. You remove complexity and create simpler more integrated systems which operate better together than the older mechanical versions becuas ethey are optimised. Which is why auto boxes are used in F1 and not manual shifts.

My 2 cents worth - electronic suspension is the next frontier with terrain sensors altering the damping and pre load - that's a whole new game - but most likely the next real big frontier. 

 

[JA-Q001]

I must say, when I was using Di2, the synchro shift was amazingly nice.

And the other top feature I like is the fact that it can display my current gear on my Garmin.

I remember when I still had the old in line indicator, that went away when cables started being routed next to the bars.

Edited June 30, 2022 by JA-Q001

[100Tours]

I love the smoothness of Di2, and synchroshift in particular I like (why hasn't SRAM done something similar?) And running out of battery should hardly ever happen - you get 2000km on a charge, just learn to check the battery level on the head unit from time to time.

The problem is longevity. I've got manual groupsets that are 25+ years old, but I doubt you'll be able to maintain electronic gruppos for much more than 10 years - have a look at the first Di2 groupsets where wiring harnesses and batteries just don't exist for them any more. A single component failure may mean your whole groupset is now junk. I'm just waiting for Shimano to update their e-tube wiring to a slightly modified connector - which will start the clock on replacing a number of groupsets.

[Paul Ruinaard]

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/opinion/future-of-mechanical-groupsets/

 

nice summary

Edited June 30, 2022 by Paul Ruinaard